This week, as part of National Health Week, every year has attending a boot camp.The point of the camp was to get the children moving, have fun and get more exercise. Lot sof children were inspired to do even more exercise. Steve had th children doing all kinds of exercises including : jumping, bear crawl races, lunges, squats, sit ups, press ups, planks and high knee running.

Today on the Friday 8th June, Year 3 performed a gob smacking assembly all about the stone age. With a warm welcome, they began telling us amazing facts such as : they built their houses out of stone and hay, they didn’t have normal weapons and more. They showed us their paintings [which were amazing!]and told us that they used chalk and glue to glaze over it. Then they told us that they learnt a fab song which is like we will rock you but about the stone age and they had added cool break dancing moves [ which they were learning for P.E.]

Then we were told that they used to make their cloths out of dead animal skin – UGH! But they of course they washed the blood off so it is nice and comfortable. Then they compared families of stone age people and ordinary people. As it came to an end they sang us off with their awesome song.

As part of the School Linking Project, Year 3 went to visit Year 3 at Westbourne primary school. The first thing they did was to get on the bus and set off on the short journey to Manningham in Bradford. When they got to Westbourne Primary School, they meet with their partners that they meet with at Nell Bank a few months ago .They then split into 3 groups for the day.

Their first activity was to match jigsaw shapes collage with their partners,they were solving a puzzle which was teaching them to work together and to get a long with each other. As soon as they finished the fist activity,they moved on to the 2nd activity which was outdoors. The outdoor activity was to tie their partners legs and to make them knock over the cones whilst being blindfolded and guiding them.

Their 3 activity was a parachute game were they had to work together to not drop the ball and just keep it on. Then, after a while, they were allowed to knock the ball off the parachute. Before leaving, they played one last game, the shark game! Everyone had a fantastic day and now our Year 3 classes can’t wait for Westbourne to visit them next half term.

Every Thursday, both Year 3 classes learn how to break dance by being taught by an exquisite professional called Harmony. She will be giving 4 sessions to each class over 4 weeks and helping them learn the art of break dancing. The teachings happen after lunch for their indoor PE and Harmony, who is very experienced, competes in different competitions. She teaches them all the different moves that she knows such as : the front step, back sliding, floor moves, spinning and freeze positions. At the end of each session she shows them a quick style of how it is supposed to look before they have a go.

Year 3 have loved the break dancing lessons so far and they cant wait to carry on with them for the rest of the three weeks! Maybe, by then, Blakehill will have break dancing professionals!

Today, Year 3 had their class assembly that was all about a book that they have been reading and learning about in class. This book is called Little Babaji and they had been looking at it as part of world book week. The story is about a boy from India whose mum is called Mamaji and dad is called Papaji. He lives with his dad and his mum. One day his mum sewed him a dark, fiery red coat, a light green tropical green umbrella, purple shoes and bright sky looking blue trousers which his mum sold at a shop called Bazar.

One day, he went to the forest wearing these clothes and saw a tiger approaching him. Suddenly, the tiger shouted out “I am the greatest of them all.” So that he could leave safely, Little Babayi gave him his coat then the tiger raced into the misty forest and continued walking but encountered 3 more tigers who robed him of the rest of his new clothes. After telling their story, they sang Little Light of Mine and did two dances which were very well thought out.

Over the last couple of weeks,Year 3 went to the Bradford Cathedral as part of RE.They got to see what was inside the Cathedral and learnt about the Christians religion. They looked at the Christians symbols and dressed up as choir boys and girls. Inside the church they saw the altar, stain glass windows, angels, shields, the famous bishops chair and the magnificent organ.As well as all this, they had the opportunity to draw four different items shields, angels, stain glass windows and one other significant object they liked. After that, they then had the opportunity to observe the Cathedral from the outside and had load of fun. They learnt lots of facts and wrote a recount.

This week Lower Key Stage 2 and Upper Key Stage 2 have been at St Cuthbert’s church for their annual Christingle services. At each service they had to sing a number of songs which they have been practicing for weeks and weeks and they did a fantastic job! Take a look at the videos below to hear the children in action. At the start of the service some children had the opportunity to carry christingles down the church aisle as the choir sang their hearts out. Both services got a huge round of applause for their beautiful singing and for their retelling of the Christmas Story. As we did such a fantastic job, St Cuthbert’s church are allowing us to go back next Christmas so we can do it all again! Thank you for coming and watching your child.

This week Year 3 travelled 10 minutes from school to the Industrial Museum Bradford. While they were there, they learnt all about the Industrial Revolution. Later, they began a first session where they began a tour and saw lots of sewing additionally spinning machines. They had draw pictures of each machine that they saw. During that session, they looked at 3 different houses which all had a different interior from a different year 1870’s, 1940’s and the 1970’s.

They began their second session, where they cleaned some wool also they removed some twigs and leaves. Then they vigorously combed it -which was hard work! After they carded their wool, Year 3 spun the wool on a spinning wheel.Eventually, they got to weave it and saw what they could create on the wheel whilst having a lot of fun and learning alot! Afterwards, the children played a game on the machine, pulling thread off of the wool! It was a lot of fun and they learned all about times long ago and what the past generations were like!

On Tuesday the 14th of November, Year 3 left Blakehill for a day and went to Nell Bank. However, they didn’t go alone, they went with Westbourne Primary, who are from the other side of Bradford. Both Year 3 year groups are taking part in the School Linking Project. They excitedly clambered on a large, blue double decker bus. 40 minutes later, they had arrived. After a quick chat and introduction they found a partner and played many fun circle games. Instead of simply telling their partners what they like, the two school played cross the circle game to make it more fun.

They split into groups and did 3 activates including: A walk in the woods were they made stick and leaf towers, adventure and wet play and finally a scavenger hunt where they had to find a skeleton leaf, acorns and man made item. After a fun and tiring day, they had to say goodbye to Westbourne and head home. It looks like they’ve all had a brilliant time at Nell Bank and I bet they can’t wait to see their new friends again.